Committed to Achieving My Goal of Becoming

¶ … committed to achieving my goal of becoming an accountant. I will do everything in my power to ensure that I achieve the educational background necessary to become an accountant. I will also ensure that I learn the ethical and moral roles associated with accounting, to prepare me for dealing with clients.

My long-term goals are a hybrid of personal and professional goals. Therefore, my five-year goals are drawn from both aspects of my life. My first goal is to obtain my bachelor degree in accounting. My second goal is to become certified as a Certified Public Examiner and a Certified Forensic Accountant. My third goal is to find my first job working with an accounting organization where I would be in an auditing position. The fourth goal is to use the background experience from that first job to find a job opportunity in one of the cities were I would like to establish a home. My fifth goal is to purchase a home in that city.

My short-term goals are aimed at helping me accomplish my long-term goals. In six months, I would like to do well in my classes for the fall semester, and bring up my grade point average by .4 points. I would like to maintain those grades for the spring semester. I would like to begin a part-time job in order to supplement my current income. I would like to work on my presentation skills and improve my ability as a public speaker. I would like to identify the top location where I would like to settle down. Finally, from a personal perspective, I would like to plan a relaxing vacation for spring break of the spring semester.

SWOT Analysis

My strengths come from my background: I come from an Indonesian background and have had to learn how to bridge not only language gaps, but also cultural gaps. As a result, I feel like I am very capable at multi-tasking. In addition, I speak two languages. My weaknesses, however, also come from that same background; I feel that I am lacking in the ability to provide powerful and compelling presentations. My biggest opportunity has been the opportunity to come to the United States to study, which also places me in the U.S. job market when I begin to job hunt. However, one of my bigger threats is that, as an international student, my employers have to meet a hurdle of demonstrating that there are not equally qualified American applicants.

Strategic Statement

My long-term objective is to complete my degree and find a suitable employment opportunity within the United States. The scope of that objective is my academic career as it relates to the eventual attainment of a professional position. My advantage is that I have a strong educational background and a grade point average that places me in a highly competitive position.

My short-term objective is to increase my grade point average. The scope of that objective includes more in-major courses, now that some of my introductory general courses are complete. My advantage is that my math skills are much greater than my English-language verbal skills, so that accounting and math-based courses should be easier for me to do well in than the out-of-major courses I have had to take.

Implementation

Currently, I am working on improving my grade point average. My current grade point average is artificially low because of the many courses I have had to take where being a non-native English speaker placed me at a disadvantage. These courses include many courses from the liberal arts perspective. However, my science and math background is extremely well-established, so that the opportunity to get into some of the mathematical theory underlying accounting is not only interesting to me, but is also an opportunity for me to improve my grades. I intend to study for three hours each evening, and will hire a tutor in any subject where my grade falls below a 92.

One of my short-term goals is to identify the American city where I would eventually like to settle. I have already identified several important factors to consider, such as: vibrancy of the city's international community, cost of living, availability of amenities, public school system rating, weather, and proximity to nature. I am using these categories, along with subjective articles about the "best" locations in the United States, to narrow my list of potential cities. I plan on visiting my top three cities over the winter break this year; to determine which one of them I like the best.